Ominous Fire Outlook for Yellowstone

Here's an ominous report from Yellowstone: they've already had their first lightning-sparked fire. Back in mid-April a thunderstorm rolled through and lit up one tree in the park's backcountry. The flames didn't spread, but the fact that a lightning strike was able to kindle flames in mid-April is foreboding of a hot, fiery summer in the park, as well as other Rocky Mountain parks. "That was probably the earliest on record it," Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash told me. "It wasn’t significant in that it was any kind of fire. But the fact that conditions were right that a lightning strike in April caused a fire, that doesn’t bode well.”